Jacques Santini

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography Jacques Jean Claude Santini (born 25 April 1952) is a French former professional footballer and manager. He played for Saint-Étienne during the 1970s, and reached the European Cup final with them in 1976. He has coached the France national team - winning the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup and reaching the quarter-finals of Euro 2004 - and clubs including Lyon.

Managerial career

Santini with Saint-Étienne in 1976

Santini is one of the most accomplished football managers in France. Together with Jean Michel Aulas and Bernard Lacombe he was involved in the transformation of Lyon into a French football giant. From 1997 to 2000 he was Sports' director, helping lay the foundation which resulted in Lyon becoming the best football club in France. As manager of Lyon from 2000 to 2002 he was winner of French League Cup in 2001, and in 2002 he won the French Championship.

Santini was chosen as "The best French coach" in 2002 by France Football and World's The Best National Coach of the Year in 2003 by International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) Santini replaced Roger Lemerre as France manager in 2002.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had already resigned from the position before Euro 2004, where France surprisingly lost to eventual champions Greece in the quarter-final.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Santini took the managerial position at Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur after Euro 2004.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He surprisingly announced his resignation after just 13 games.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Officially, Santini left England due to personal problems, but it was widely reported that a series of disagreements with then Sporting Director Frank Arnesen led to his departure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Speaking in 2005, Santini said he quit partly because he felt agreements with the club were broken, but he admitted he "dug his own grave" by agreeing to join the club before the end of Euro 2004.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He took the job of head coach of AJ Auxerre in Ligue 1 in 2005, but was sacked in 2006 due to his conflict with vice-president of Auxerre Guy Roux.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 23 June 2008, Santini was linked with the vacant managerial position at Scottish Premier League club Hearts but he refused the offer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Managerial statistics

Source:Template:Citation needed

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	L	D	Win %
Toulouse	1 July 1985	30 June 1989
Lille	1 July 1989	30 June 1992
Saint-Étienne	1 July 1992	30 June 1994
Sochaux	9 December 1994	30 June 1995
Lyon	1 July 2000	31 May 2002
France	21 July 2002	1 July 2004
Tottenham Hotspur	3 June 2004	5 November 2004
Auxerre	8 June 2005	17 May 2006
Total

Honours

Player

Saint-Étienne

• Division 1: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1980–81Template:Citation needed
• Coupe de France: 1969–70, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1976–77Template:Citation needed

Manager

Lyon

• Division 1: 2001–02Template:Citation needed
• Coupe de la Ligue: 2000–01Template:Citation needed

France

• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2003Template:Citation needed

External links

• Profile on the French Football Federation website (in French)